Who Discovered Cystic Fibrosis

April 8, 2009 by Mary Wayne

Who discovered cystic fibrosis? The disease called cystic fibrosis was not discovered by one single person but is a result of an evolution of descriptions and symptoms now associated with the condition. Some accounts in the 1600s recounted of children to taste salty when kissed thus leading to the conclusion that these children were hexed. In the 1800s through the 1900s, infants were reported to be suffereing from meconium ileus with many changes in the pancreas at autopsy.

Later on, children with pancreatic disorders also had lung diseases and the first publication on cystic fibrosis was Fanconi and his team during 1936 and in 1938 the first full description of the disease was described byAnderson. It was also this time that the hereditary nature of the condition began to be acknowledged, with the pancreatic insufficiency as the primary issue with the lung condition was ascribed as a secondary anomaly in children observed.